


Musical Mantle

by TheMockingJ3



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Aurora (Mentioned), Desmond Sycamore (Mentioned), Emmy Altava (Mentioned) - Freeform, Flora doesn’t feel worthy but SHE IS, Gen, Hershel Layton (mentioned) - Freeform, Uploaded from my old account with edits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22868674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMockingJ3/pseuds/TheMockingJ3
Summary: Before he leaves, Luke teaches Flora how to play the violin.
Relationships: Hershel Layton & Flora Reinhold, Luke Triton & Flora Reinhold
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	Musical Mantle

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: For most of the games.  
> Set: Before Luke leaves at the end of PL3.

Flora tapped at Luke's bedroom door.

"Come in!"

Flora poked her head inside to find Luke, half-done with packing his suitcase. 

She swallowed past the ache in her throat and said, "I was just wondering what you wanted for dinner." Their last meal together— she was determined to make him something special.

"W-whatever's easiest for you," Luke answered, stuffing some clothes into his case.

Flora smiled. Of course she knew she had room for improvement when it came to cooking, but Luke and the professor had never discouraged her.

For a moment, she hovered in the doorway, watching him tuck away mementoes of their time together. The picture book and the toy car from (fake) Future London. The camera, the stuffed cow and the hamster exercise set (for his mouse, Toppy) from their journey on the Molentary Express. He was even taking the robotic dog from St. Mystere, after much persuasion on Flora's part.

And for some reason, he'd insisted on adopting all of the masks Don Paolo had used in his disguises. A part of Flora was relieved because the masks had always unnerved her. (How could Don Paolo so seamlessly make a copy of another person's  _face_?)

There were, however, two masks she didn't recognize— one of an elderly man and one of a blonde woman. She pointed at them. "Are those from Don Paolo too?"

Luke picked the masks up. "No, they're from Descole."

"That's the professor's old enemy, right?"

“Right...”

She assumed he would leave it at that (leave her out of the loop again) but then Luke passed her a yellow book from his luggage.

Flora's eyes widened as she opened the book that was, in fact, a photo album. 

She felt like she was gazing into a different time- an ancient world. She saw an exotic garden, the ruins of a seaside kingdom, a sprawling desert city, a lake amidst a mountain range... and more. 

All of the places Luke had visited with the professor. (And yet, Flora had never stepped foot outside of England...) 

There were photos of people too- friends of the professor or those he had helped. 

Flora recognised some of them, such as Luke’s parents and the Barde siblings, but most of the faces were a mystery to her. 

Two in particular stood out: An angelic-looking girl and a man in a black suit. 

“Is that... Descole?” Flora guessed. 

"Back then, we knew him as Desmond Sycamore." Luke bit his lip. "The professor doesn't talk about him very much."

"And the girl?" Flora prompted.

Luke's thumb brushed over the blonde-haired figure. "Aurora…" 

He didn't need to explain. Flora understood from the softness in his voice, from his alarm when Clive took her, and from the way he would sometimes give her these searching looks.

Flora quickly changed the subject. “Where's Emmy? Wasn't she with you at the time?"

"She was the one who took most of the photos. You'd never catch Emmy without her camera."

No wonder Emmy became a photographer for the World Times. She was so talented and outgoing…

As Luke tucked the photo album back into his case, Flora's gaze fell on his violin. The last time she'd caught him practicing was after their case with Big Ben.

"Remember, you promised you'd teach me how to play?" Flora whispered.

" _Right now?_ "  Luke caved in under her wistful expression. "I guess I can show you the basics..."

He placed the instrument in one of her hands and the bow in the other. "You put your chin against the rest…" He gently repositioned her stance. "Hold the violin's neck like  this  and draw the bow across the strings."

She did as he instructed. The violin shrieked in protest. "S-sorry!"

"It's okay," Luke chuckled. "I  hated  practicing when I first started. It took me a whole year to get the right sound."

"Can you play something now?" she requested.

"I'll try…" He took the violin from her and spent a minute tuning it up.  


After a few preliminary strokes, he produced a song that the professor liked to listen to on his office gramophone. Luke's skills were a tad rusty, but to a novice like Flora, he sounded incredible.

"Was that…  _Song of the Sea_ ?" Flora wondered. 

Luke grinned and gave her a small bow. "I've known it for three years, so I've had lots of practice."

Flora admitted quietly, "I can't imagine I'll ever be as good as you…"  _Or Emmy. Or Aurora. Or the professor._

Luke returned the violin and the bow to her. "You don't need to be,” he said earnestly. “If I’m still the professor’s apprentice... and Emmy’s his assistant... then that makes you his... his  protégé.”

“Someone who constantly depends on him?” Flora sighed. She appreciated that Luke was trying to give her her own title, but he didn’t seem to grasp the meaning. 

“No... Okay,  _yes_ ,”  Luke agreed. “But  everyone depends on the professor.  _Not everyone_ wants to follow him and learn from him. H-he needs that...” He turned away from her for a moment, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. 

Flora clutched the violin to her chest. She wasn’t sure if she could be that person \-  the professor’s  protégé,  let alone his  _daughter_ \- but she would stay with him until someone more worthy came along. 

“I won’t leave him alone,” Flora promised.

Luke looked back at her. There were still tears in his eyes, but he smiled. “Th-thanks, Flora.”

She held the violin out to him. 

He shook his head. “You can keep it.”

Flora pointed the bow at him. “Next time we meet, I’ll be even better than you!”

“We’ll see,” Luke laughed. 

**Author's Note:**

> MabelLover, a great PL writer, wrote a follow-up fic to this called, 'The lyre of Orpheus, the greatest musician'. It features Flora as a travelling musician and it's amazing!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The lyre of Orpheus, the greatest musician](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885552) by [MabelLover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MabelLover/pseuds/MabelLover)




End file.
